


My Robotic Heart

by Casey_Wolfe



Category: Fast and the Furious Series, I Robot (2004)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Artificial Intelligence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, CEO!Carter, Detective!Dom, Established Relationship, Family, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, I Robot AU, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Multi, Mystery (minor), Past Character Death, Polyamory, Prosthesis, Rare Pairings, Robot!Brian, Robot/Human Relationships, Romance, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-10
Updated: 2015-08-15
Packaged: 2018-04-13 22:34:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,278
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4540008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Casey_Wolfe/pseuds/Casey_Wolfe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dom never expected when he got the new case that he would stumble across a classified brand new AI, a conspiracy, and possibly love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Yeeeah, I have no excuse.  I’ll be in the corner now.
> 
> I don’t really think you need to have seen I, Robot to get anything although it does have some spoilers for the movie from some plot points I borrowed.  But if that doesn’t bother you, you should be able to understand just fine.

It was one of those cases that started out strange and promised to only get stranger.  He had been called to US Robotics headquarters.  What he found there was Dr. Laning, the father of modern robotics and creator of the Three Laws, smashed on the lobby floor.  Looking up there was a shattered window at least ten stories up.  There was no doubt that the doctor had died on impact.

The question was what Dom was doing there.  It appeared to be a suicide but a hologram had been activated that had requested his presence.  It had even been programmed with the good sense to mention Vince should be left at the department- Dom may have been leery of robots but it was nothing compared to his partner’s outright hatred.

“Doctor,” he greeted the hologram of the man.  “I’d say ‘it’s good to see you again’ but…”

“Hello Detective.  I knew you would come.”

“Well you kind of summoned me.  Any particular reason why?”

“I’m sorry.  My responses are limited.”

Dom sighed.  He really hated technology.  “Why would you kill yourself?” he asked instead.

The hologram smiled.  “Now _that’s_ the right question.”  The projected image flickered before fading away into the small hologram disc.

Dom scoffed.  That had been extremely unhelpful.  As he looked down at the body again though, his wheels started turning.   _Dr. Laning wanted me to question his death.  So, it’s not a suicide?_ He looked upward to the jump point once again.   _Someone just wants it to look that way?_

With another deep sigh, Dom figured since he was already there it was worth doing the due diligence.  Maybe it was exactly what it looked like, maybe not.  Either way something didn’t feel right.  He needed to find out what that was.

As he was walking up the stairs to the reception desk, he spotted his little sister and their friend Jesse standing nearby.  “Mia.”  He rerouted to them, dropping his voice as he said, “You shouldn’t see this.”

“We worked together Dom,” Mia replied instead.  “I can’t believe Laning would do something like this.”

Mia was a brilliant scientist in her own right, specializing in psychology in college.  It got her a position at USR after their downright prodigal genius of a friend Jesse had been hired on.  She had used a lot of fancy words to explain her job once, but after the blank look she’d summed it up as “ _I make the robots seem more human.”_

“I need to get up there,” he pointed towards the broken window.

“Laning’s office.  We can show you the way.”

Dom bit back the words on his tongue about not getting involved.  He supposed Mia had the right to be concerned.  Besides, if they took him past all the access points then he could avoid dealing with company security and cut right through the bullshit red tape.

“How well did you know Laning?” Dom asked as they got into the elevator.

“He’s the head of robotics,” she answered with an obvious tone.  “I worked with him a lot.  Jesse assisted him in the lab almost every day.”

“That’s not what I asked.  I said _how well did you know him_?”

It was Jesse who answered, “Not very well.  He’s- _was_ \- a very private person.”

“His job was his life,” Mia added.  “Half the time I don’t even think he went home.”

“The lab’s been sealed to unauthorized personnel,” Jesse explained as they got off at the correct floor.

“Surveillance?”

“We can pull it up right here.”  They stopped outside Laning’s door, staring at a wall.  “Viki,” Jesse continued, a pixelated screen appearing with a woman’s face.

“Viki?”

“She’s the building’s virtual intelligence.  Laning’s first creation actually.”

“What can I do for you today Detective?” Viki inquired of Dom.

“Show me the security footage inside the lab from five minutes before Laning's death.”

The screen was nothing but static however. “I’m sorry.  There seems to be data corruption.”

Dom's brows came together and Jesse explained, “Dr. Laning had authorization to shut down the feeds at any time to work on sensitive research.”

Instead Dom said, “What about this hallway? I want to know who all was in and out of the lab today.”

“Certainly Detective.”

As the footage fast forwarded they were able to see Dr. Laning arrive in to work but not a soul was seen coming or going. Following the man's death all it showed was a small security team entering the lab before securing it. It was looking more like a suicide.

Even so, he decided to take a look around the lab. There were half built robots everywhere, most of which appeared to be the new NS-5 series that was set to launch soon.  “What was Laning working on?” Dom asked.

Jesse shifted nervously as he answered, “Dom, you know we can’t talk about specifics.  That’s all classified stuff.”

“Okay, what can you say that’s _not_ protected by company red tape?  I need some kind of insight into his state of mind.”

“He was focused,” Mia supplied.  “He was supposed to be aiding us in getting the NS-5’s finished for shipment but…”  She shook her head.  “Something else had his attention.  I honestly don’t know what.”

“Classified,” Jesse reminded.  Dom gave him a look that cowed him.  “Just a new AI project.  Dr. Laning was already looking towards the next model.”  That Dom accepted, continuing his sweep of the space.

By the windows was a cot- clearly the man stayed there as regularly as his sister claimed.  But as he looked at the glass his gaze narrowed.  Something was very _off_ about it and he thought he knew why.  He shocked his sister and friend by throwing a chair at an unbroken section, watching as it splintered but didn’t break.

“What the hell Dom?!” Mia spat.

“Did you know that was safety glass?” he inquired casually.  “No way an old man like that could have went through it on his own.”

“But you saw the footage,” Mia reminded.  “No one left and this room has been sealed.”

He looked around carefully, drawing his sidearm.  “Which means whoever killed Laning is still in this room.”

“Are you serious?”  Mia scoffed as her brother started to comb the room more thoroughly.  “I don’t want to believe that Laning would just kill himself but what you’re suggesting…”

A part falling to the floor caused them all to freeze.  Dom’s eyes narrowed, gun trained on the spot as he ordered, “Come out!”  Slowly a figure stepped out from behind some robots and Dom breathed, “What the hell?”

“He won’t hurt us,” Jesse said, stepping forward.  “It’s okay Brian.  Come on out.”

“Jess?”  This was from Mia, having no idea what it was that stood before her.

“This is Brian.  He’s… he’s what Laning was working on.  I was helping him.”

“He’s a…”  Dom didn’t have the words.

“Robot.  Yeah.  He’s the most advanced AI, completely free-thinking.”

Before them was what appeared to be a man, so perfectly constructed in appearance.  His long frame had lean muscle, a curly mop of blonde hair framing striking blue eyes.  There wasn’t much to give away his robotic nature save for the seams running along his arms, as well as his neck and behind the jaw.  They could have been written off as scars if they weren’t so symmetrical.  Even so, this was _miles_ away from the current robots, even the new NS-5’s which were the most human to date.

“It’s okay Brian,” Jesse encouraged once again.  “Dom’s not gonna hurt you.”  He looked meaningfully at his friend, nodding his head towards the gun.  “ _Right_?”

“Yeah,” Dom grumbled, lowering the weapon.  He glowered at the robot all the same.  He barely tolerated their kind as is, but something like this?  “Why were you hiding?” he demanded.

Brian chewed on his lower lip, a very human gesture to be sure.  “I was scared,” he answered, the robot’s voice nothing like other AI. It sounded... human.

“Scared?”  Dom scoffed.  “Robots don’t _feel_.”

“I do,” Brian answered.  “I feel lots of things.  I was designed to learn, to feel, to express myself.”  He shifted from foot to foot as he apologized, “I’m sorry for hiding.”

“It’s alright,” Jesse assured.

“You were here all day,” Dom stated.

Brian nodded.  “I rarely leave the lab.  Dr. Laning didn’t want everyone to find out about me.”

“I can’t believe this,” Mia murmured.  “This is…  The intelligence, the behavior…”

Jesse ducked his head as he admitted, “We used a lot of your theories to making a true AI.”

“Yeah, ‘cause that’s a great idea,” Dom scoffed.  “Just what we need.  Tin cans that can think for themselves.”

“I’m sorry if I’ve offended you,” Brian offered, looking away quickly when Dom’s gaze went back to him.

“Don’t apologize Brian,” Jesse replied.  “Dom’s just…  Dom.”

He snorted at the young man.  He’d been nothing but a hyperactive little hacker when they’d first met.  Back then there was no way Jesse would have defied him in any way, but coming into his own at USR had done a lot for the kid’s self esteem.

“Did you talk to Laning?” Dom asked the robot.  When the blonde nodded, he prompted, “And?”

Brian wrung his hands together.  “I can’t say.”

“What do you mean you ‘can’t say’?  You’ve been asked a direct question and you’ll answer it.”

“Dom, he doesn’t have compulsory programming,” Jesse explained.  “I told you he has free will.”

“Again.  Real smart.”

“You’re scaring him Dom!” Mia snapped, seeing how nervous the robot was.  She understood full well the simulated emotions the NS-5’s could show, but this was altogether different.  Brian appeared to actually be _experiencing_ emotion rather than just mimicking it.

Before anything more could be said, the lab door opened and in walked the CEO of the company, Carter Verone.  Brian visibly relaxed, smiling at the brunette.  “Carter,” he breathed leaning into the man’s space as he stopped beside Brian, a hand falling to the robot’s shoulder.

“You okay?”  When Brian nodded his attention turned to Dom.  “Detective Toretto, Viki informed me you were here.  We are always happy to assist the police in any way we can.”

Dom didn’t bother checking his tone.  “You can start with having your little science project here give up what he knows.”

Brian frowned and Carter scowled at Dom.  “I’m not sure that I like your tone Detective.”

Apparently Mia was about ready to burst with questions as she interjected, “Mr. Verone, you knew about this?”

Carter gave her an easy smile, if not a genuine one, “One of three.  Dr. Laning came to me with the project idea last year.  I allowed him to do it so long as we kept it under the strictest security.  He asked to bring on an assistant about six months ago after Brian came online and I allowed that as well.  There was talk of bringing yourself on Dr. Toretto, but clearly… things have changed.”

“Can we get back to the dead guy in the lobby please?” Dom asked, exasperation showing.

Carter felt Brian flinch under his hand and didn’t bother to hide his own annoyance.  “Very well Detective.”  His voice softened as he looked at Brian, seeing that his eyes were moist.  “Bri?  Do you know anything about what happened?”  A nod.  “I need you to tell the Detective.”

“But…”  His lip trembled.

“I’ll be right here,” Carter eased, hand gliding down his arm to take hold of his hand.  “Nothing bad will happen to you.”

Brian gave a hesitant nod, looking in Dom’s direction but not directly at him.  If the Detective hadn’t known better, he would say the thing in front of him was human for as much emotion he was showing.

“He made me promise,” Brian began.  “Before he’d tell me what it was, he made me promise to do him a favor.”  Brian looked over at Carter then, tears stinging the corner of his eyes, a pained look on his face.  “He told me to do it.”

“Brian…”

“I’m so sorry!” he burst, head falling onto Carter shoulder as he cried, Carter’s fingers curling into blonde curls as he tried to comfort Brian.  “I didn’t want to but he made me swear!”

Dom’s surprise quickly shifted into irritation.  “So much for the Three Laws,” he shot over at Mia.  The laws every robot was supposed to follow, the ones protecting human life, was something that he and his sister argued over from time to time.

She narrowed her eyes at him.  “The Three Laws are perfect,” she threw back.  “Clearly his higher cognitive functions allowed him to interpret them more advancedly.  We may not be able to see it, but somehow doing what he did _was_ within the realm of the Three Laws.”

“Spin it however you want Mia.  This thing just admitted to murder.”

Carter’s gaze was hard.  “Well despite your opinions, the law is rather black and white.  Only a _human_ can be charged with murder.  Brian is an AI and the property of USR.  As such, any disciplinary actions are for us to decide.”

Dom glowered, clenching his jaw to keep himself from saying something colorful in turn.

“Doctors Toretto and Berg will do a complete diagnostic,” Carter continued, “and will take all appropriate measures.”  He looked between them all before settling on Dom.  “I also understand there is a personal relationship here, but do not attempt to inquire about this further.”

The new AI project was supposed to be top secret as is.  With the added complication of Laning’s death and Brian’s involvement, on the eve of the new product launch no less, it was even more important to keep Brian’s existence off the radar.

Brian sniffed, managing to pull back away from Carter, apologizing softly.  Carter held his face, thumbs wiping away the tears.  His lips quirked at the corner only momentarily but long enough that Dom noticed.  “It’s okay Brian.  Everything will be okay.”  The robot nodded, easily accepting Carter’s words.

The brunette’s face wasn’t so gentle as he looked at Dom again.  “Now if that’s all, I think it’s time that you left… Detective.”  He looked at Mia and Jesse as he informed, “Brian and I will be in my office.  After hours you will be able to move him to do diagnostics.”

“Yes Sir,” Jesse answered, not about to argue.

They couldn’t move Brian throughout the building while everyone else was about.  The only reason Carter could get away with moving to his office was because the elevator was just outside Laning’s lab door and the CEO office was at the top of the spire with no one to see.  It wouldn’t be the first time Brian had traveled between the two places, rather it had become quite common in fact.

Carter had Brian by the elbow, turning them to leave.  Dom had a question burning in the back of his mind though.  “Why did he want you to kill him?”

Brian turned slowly, their eyes meeting for the first time.  “I don’t know.”  The answer sounded sincere, but also puzzled.

“Come on Bri,” Carter prodded gently.

As the door slid shut, Dom was left with a sour taste in his mouth and more questions than answers.  There was a reason Laning did what he did, why he had made sure Dom was called, and he was going to figure out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since Jesse doesn't have a last name, I had to give him one. Chose Berg as the actor that plays Jesse is Lindberg. Vince's last name (Hunter) has pretty much just become fanon for me. No clever explanation for that one other than simply liking the name, haha.


	2. Chapter 2

“What a mess,” Carter sighed, stepping off the elevator into the CEO office suite.  “Viki, put a lockdown on my office.  No one gets access without my approval.”

“Command confirmed Mr. Verone,” the synthetic voice announced.

“And get ahold of the legal team and put a gag order on Dominic Toretto and the rest of the Department.”

“Right away Sir.”

Carter sighed again, grabbing the bottle of scotch at the small bar and pouring it out over a glass of ice.  He could already feel the headache coming on.

“I’m sorry,” a small voice said behind him.  He turned to find Brian hovering in the entryway to the office, a deep frown marring his features.  “I’ve caused a lot of trouble, haven’t I?”

“You’re not to blame Bri,” he assured.

“But…  I did a bad thing, didn’t I?”  He looked over at Carter then, attempting to understand, to make sense of his conflicting emotions.

Despite being incredibly intelligent, Brian was in many ways still a kid.  He was six months old, still learning the nuances of being human.  Where some things he knew very well, others still confused him.  It was this innocence that made Carter want to protect him so fiercely.

“That’s a hard question to answer,” Carter admitted.  “Some people would say yes.  Others would say no.  What matters is what _you_ think the answer is.”

Brian's brows furrowed together.  “But I don’t know.”  He huffed in irritation, finally coming into the room proper.  “Logic tells me that I kept my word and that that was important.”  Carter nodded his head for him to continue.  “However my feelings…  I…  I _killed_ Dr. Laning.  I ended the life of someone.  Someone who trusted me.  Who was a… friend.”

“You did,” Carter agreed.  “And that trust was why he asked you.  He knew you wouldn’t back down from a promise.”  He hated to say it but it was something Brian had to hear.  “He used you Bri.  He used you to get what he wanted because he knew you would do it.”

As Brian frowned down at his feet once more, Carter stepped up into his space, arms wrapping around him protectively.  “I think I understand.  But I’m still unsure if I did the right thing yet.”  He nestled into Carter’s hold, relaxing a bit.  “I will have to think on it more.”

His voice may have been far from the synthetic ones of a standard robot, rich sounding and real, but he still spoke far too formally for the most part.  It was something Carter knew would develop over time.  Once Brian got a better grasp of speech patterns he would start to form his own.

“Did you…?”  Brian bit his lip, cutting off his question.

“You know you can ask me anything,” Carter reminded gently, fingers combing through his hair.

“Did you really mean what you told the Detective?  That I was… property?”

“Oh Corazon,” Carter admonished, pulling him in even tighter- if Brian were human he’d worry about crushing him.  “No, I don’t believe that at all.  It was something I had to say so that you weren’t taken away from me.” Carter took hold of Brian’s face, making the robot look him in the eye.  “I would do anything to protect you.”

“Like lie?” he pointed out, figuring it had been wrong to do, especially to an officer.

“If that’s what it takes, so be it.”  Carter cut off any protest by pressing their lips together.  “Now, just relax.  I’ll take care of everything, alright?”

“I trust you,” Brian assured.

“Good.”  Carter gave him a brief smile, bopping under his chin with a couple fingers.  He grabbed his scotch, taking it over to his desk and having a seat. He took a drink before setting it down so he could grab a cigar.

As he leaned back in his chair to light up, Brian scowled at him.  “Smoking’s not good for you.”

Carter only smirked.

* * *

“So what the hell you find out?” Vince grumbled as soon as he spotted his partner.

“Well,” Dom mused, “if you didn’t have a restraining order from USR you could've come along to see for yourself.”  Vince snorted, never liking to be reminded.  “Come on.  Gotta head over to the vic’s house.”

“Thought it was a suicide?”  Even so, Vince was already on his feet, throwing on his jacket.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

“Toretto!  Hunter!”  Tanner was in the doorway of his office.  “Get in here.”

When the door shut behind them, their Lieutenant barked, “No idea what the hell you did over there but I just received a gag order from USR.”

“Well that didn’t take long,” Dom grumbled.

“Apparently you hit a nerve.”

“Can’t stop us from discussing the case with each other,” Dom pointed out instead.

“And just _what_ case would that be?”

“It’s complicated.”  That didn’t satisfy Tanner though who nailed him with an unamused look.  “Laning was murdered.  Made to look like a suicide.”

“And you have proof of this?”  Dom nodded.  “Which you’re not going to tell me.”

“Not until I have something more solid to give you.”  Dom appeased him by adding, “I need to figure out the ‘why’ and to do that I wanna check out Laning’s place.  See if there’s something there that can tell me.”

“The _who_ would be a better answer.”  Dom clammed up on that one however, causing Tanner to sigh.  “Just go.”

Dom didn’t hesitate, Vince right on his heels.  “What the hell is going on Dom?”

“We are in the middle of the shit, that’s what.”

There was no more talk until they got into Dom’s car.  He set the nav point and allowed the car to go into auto-drive.  It was unusual for him, both he and Vince preferring manual operation, but he needed all his focus on the case at the moment.

He knew Vince wasn’t going to like what he had to say, however he saw no way to avoid it if he was going to have his partner’s help.

As he thought, Vince blew up in spectacular Vince-like fashion.  “Are they fucking nuts?!  ‘Cause those fucking tin cans aren’t dangerous enough, now they gotta make ‘em look human?!  And _act_ human?!”

“V…”

“This is bullshit!”

“ _V_ ,” Dom tried again.  “Focus on the case.”

“What case?!  The fucking robot did it!”

“Yeah, but we can’t arrest him.”

“ _It_ ,” Vince insisted, “We can’t arrest _it_.”

Dom only sighed, shaking his head.  Ignoring Vince’s personal feelings for the moment he instead tried to focus him.  “There’s more to this story.  We need to know why Laning wanted to kill himself.”

“Maybe the thing lied Dom.  Ever think of that?”

“Laning called me.  He wanted me to find something.  I need to figure out what that is.”

Vince scoffed but didn’t say anything further, instead looking out the window at the scenery as the car pulled off the freeway.  Dom couldn’t really blame him.  His best friend had good reason to hate robots.

Fellow police officer Leon had been Vince’s lover.  They all went to school together, with Mia, Jesse, and Letty only a few years behind them.  The pair had been classic high school sweethearts.  They had even been planning their wedding.

Everything changed the day there was a shoot-out with some thugs that had just robbed a store.  Leon was fatally wounded but so was one of the suspects, Leon having gotten off a shot as he was hit himself.  A robot had responded to the noise and rather than help a fallen officer had helped the scumbag instead.

The official diagnostics of the robot concluded that the criminal had a thirty-six percent survival rate, whereas Leon only had thirteen.  It had acted with logic, staying within the Three Laws.  That was the problem though.  Leon bled out and Vince had to hold his deceased lover’s body in his arms.  A human would have known a cop’s life mattered more and since then Vince had become very vocal of the fatal flaws of the robots running around, going so far as to petition USR to change their programming to place values on police and children over others when in that situation.

Dom decided to remind his partner, “In case you’ve forgotten, I’m part robot myself.”

Vince scoffed, “Don’t even talk like that man.”

It was the weird thing about Vince.  As much as he despised robots, he had never once balked at the idea that Dom’s left arm had to be replaced with robotics after a car accident.  That was how he knew Dr. Laning, the man having spearheaded the robotic prosthesis project which was currently being used for law enforcement and military personnel.

“Lets just figure this out,” Dom concluded as they pulled up to Laning’s mansion.

* * *

“Toretto.”

“Detective.  Carter Verone.”

“Mr. Verone.”  There was barely contained disdain in his voice and Brian watched Cater roll his eyes.  “What can I do for you?”

“Brian wanted to speak with you.  He seems to believe he has information pertinent to your case.”

“Good evening Detective,” Brian greeted.

“If this involves more robots,” Dom griped, “I dunno I wanna hear it.”

“Detective?”

“We were just at Laning’s house,” Dom offered.  “A demo bot tore through the place while we were still inside.”

“What?”  Carter shook his head.  “That’s impossible.  The demo was set for 8AM tomorrow.”

“We know,” Dom griped.  “We checked that before we went in.”

Carter had pulled up the orders on the demolition, cursing.  “Someone changed the time.  That’s impossible.”

“Believe it.”

“I’m the only one with authorization,” Carter argued.

Brian offered, “Perhaps it has to do with what I wanted to tell the Detective.”  Carter waved his hand for him to continue and so Brian explained, “I’ll be going for diagnostics soon and I was reminded of a time when Dr. Laning was performing them and I received feedback.

“The thing of it is, it was from the internal network of the building.  It was as though someone were trying to get into my systems.”

“Why would anyone want to do that?” Dom asked.

Carter groaned, head falling into his hand.  “Damnit,” he cursed quietly.  After a moment he explained, “Brian’s unique.”

“You don’t say,” Dom remarked.

Ignoring him, Carter continued, “He isn’t bound by the Three Laws.  He has total free will.”

There was silence on the other end of the line for what seemed an eternity.  “Well, that just made everything more interesting.”

“Dr. Laning made it almost impossible for my system to be hacked,” Brian assured.  “But it is still a curious occurrence that I wished to bring to your attention.  In case it was somehow connected to…”  He hesitated, frowning.  “What you are looking for.”

“Yeah.”  Dom hesitated then as well.  “Maybe I should come in tomorrow.  To talk.  See if you might be able to help make sense of… whatever this is.”

“We’ll see you then Detective,” Carter replied.  When the call disconnected, Carter reached up and tugged on Brian’s arm, bringing him down to his lap.  “I’ll stay with you tonight,” he assured, nuzzling Brian’s jaw as the robot snuggled against him.

“Thank you Carter,” he murmured into his neck.  “I always feel better when you’re with me.”


	3. Chapter 3

Dom wasn’t expecting to walk into Carter’s office and find lunch waiting.  “Good afternoon Detective,” Brian greeted with a bright smile.  He seemed so much more happy and calm than he had the previous day.  It made Dom feel even more guilty for the way he had treated him.

“Call me Dom,” he found himself saying.  He offered his hand towards Brian then.  “And, um, I’m sorry about the way I acted before.”

“It’s okay,” Brian shrugged off after shaking his hand.  “I was made aware that not everyone would react favorably to me once they found out.”

“Yeah, well…”

Carter interrupted from his place at the bar.  “Would you care for a drink?” he inquired of Dom.

“I really shouldn’t.  I’m on the clock.”

“Not what I asked,” Carter answered with a little smirk.

“Sure.”  Dom agreed, taking the seat offered to him by Brian.  He thanked Carter for the scotch, watching him as he took the place at the head of the table next to him.  When Brian sat across from him empty-handed, he inquired without thought, “Nothing for you?”

Brian smirked.  “I do not eat or drink Detec- Dom.”

“Dumb question,” he admitted, tilting the glass towards him before taking a drink himself.

“Did you find anything at Laning’s?” Carter asked, taking a sandwich triangle from the serving plate.

“Didn’t have much of a chance before that bot ripped it apart,” he groused.  “Did you figure out what happened?”

Carter shook his head, clearly frustrated.  “I don’t understand it.  My authorization codes were used.”

Dom hummed.  “Looks like you have a leak in your organization Mr. Verone.”

“Carter,” he corrected easily.  “And I’m working on it.”

Dom nodded, taking a sandwich himself.  It was simple finger food but he wouldn’t complain.  He rarely found the time during the day to take a break, let alone one for food.  Mia yelled at him constantly but it never did any good.  Vince had become just as bad after Leon’s death, so he wasn’t exactly help either.

With the thought of his partner who was back at the station looking through more information on Laning, he recalled what little they’d found at the scientist’s mansion.  “At Laning’s house I noticed the same surveillance strips that you have around here.”

“He connected his home system to USR,” Carter confirmed.  “He found it to be more convenient.”

“What if someone were spying on him?  Like this leak of yours?”

“I suppose it could be possible.”  Carter hated to admit it but then he never thought someone could break into USR’s system like this.  Diagnostics on Viki showed that everything was fine and their technical staff assured that no one had broken through their extensive firewalls.  “An internal threat would explain the haptic feedback Brian received as well.”

“And if whoever it is is after Brian,” Dom concluded, “then they probably figured Laning was the key.  Maybe they were even threatening him in some way.”

Carter scowled.  “How do we catch a ghost?”

“A ghost.”  That reminded Dom of the press panel he’d watched on Laning’s computer, the last thing the man had viewed.  “What did Laning mean about ‘ghosts in the machine’?”

Brian perked up at that.  “He postulated that cognitive simulacra might one day approximate component models of the psyche.”  Dom stared at him for a few moments before Brian realized he hadn’t understood.  “Oh, um, Dr. Laning theorized that robots would naturally evolve.”

“Right.”  The ‘t’ was sharp.  “You and Mia would really get along.”

Brian smiled.  “She was present for my diagnostic.  She is very pleasant and intelligent.  She also spoke of you in high regard.”

Not knowing what to say to that Dom simply nodded.  He stuffed another sandwich triangle in his mouth to avoid having to speak, causing Brian to chuckle and look towards Carter who was hiding his own amusement behind his glass.

“Would you like another drink?” Brian offered.

Dom shook his head.  “No, thank you.  One is already pushing it.”

“Perhaps another time then,” Carter offered.  “When you’re not working.”

Dom was surprised at the unsubtle way Carter asked him for drinks.  It wasn’t as though he were particularly against the idea- his preferences went both ways and Carter was certainly attractive.  Still, it had been a long time since someone had taken the initiative.

“Yeah,” Dom managed to answer, “sure.”  He finished off his drink in hopes of hiding any awkwardness.

Without asking, Brian snagged Carter’s glass, going over to the bar to fix him a new drink.  “So,” the robot prompted, “are you seeing anyone romantically?”

“What?”  Once again Dom found himself taken off-guard.  “I, um, no.  No I’m not.”

Brian smiled softly, bringing Carter his fresh drink.  Dom didn’t miss the way the brunette’s fingers brushed gently across the back of Brian’s hand.  “Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.  I am… curious.  About human relationships.”

“Understandable I suppose,” was Dom’s careful answer.

Brian watched him as he walked behind Carter’s chair and around to his side of the table.  He leaned back against it, looking down at Dom.  “Could I kiss you?”

“Excuse me?”

“Well I’d like to kiss you but only if it’s okay.”

“Me?”

Brian’s smile could almost have been considered a smirk.  “I find you to be attractive and would like to see how kissing you would be.”  As Dom looked to Carter for help, Brian must have misinterpreted the look as he he assured, “Oh, I’ve already asked Carter’s permission.”

Dom’s brows lowered in confusion.  “I thought you had free will.”

“I do.  But I figured it was only polite to ask Carter’s feelings on the matter since we’re…”  He looked to Carter and checked, “Boyfriends?”

Carter’s smile was warm.  “Yes Corazon.”

Brian looked back to Dom with obvious pride on his face that he remembered the correct word to use.  However Dom was even more confused.  How did one have a relationship with a robot?  Whatsmore, why allow your supposed _boyfriend_ to kiss another man?

He realized Brian was waiting for an answer and Dom found himself unsure of what to say.  Even knowing the blonde was a robot didn’t seem as off-putting as it had the previous day when he’d been taken by surprise.  In fact he could admit that Brian was very attractive.

 _What harm could it do?_ he wondered to himself, curious now and tempted.  “Alright,” he replied.

Brian’s smile was brilliant and it literally took Dom’s breath away at how even more beautiful he looked.  Leaning down, Brian pressed their mouths together.  Dom wasn’t expecting the robot to be warm, or for his lips to be so soft, to feel so real.  When Brian pulled back and smiled at him, Dom took over from there.

His fingers tangled with blonde curls, tilting Brian’s head to offer up a better angle.  Their lips met again, this time demanding.  Brian yielded, lips parting and letting out a soft moan when Dom licked into his mouth.  Rather than the taste of metal, Dom found soft palate and tongue.

Even more intrigued then, Dom broke off the kiss to rumble, “Get over here.”  He tugged gently on Brian’s arm as he settled back in the chair.  Brian went easily, although rather than simply stepping between his legs as intended, the blonde straddled his lap.  “There’s not a shy bone in your body, is there?” Dom couldn’t help but comment, chuckling a little.

“Technically I don’t have any bones,” was Brian’s retort, smirking as Dom laughed more.

Brian had started to explore Dom’s body, pausing as he ran his fingers along his left forearm.  His brows lowered.  “Your arm.”

Dom brought it up, flexing it and twisting it.  “Car accident,” he explained.  “It was Dr. Laning that gave me a new arm.”

As he was feeling along Dom’s arm, running fingers over joints, Brian commented, “Feels a lot like how I was built.”

Curiosity growing, Dom took hold of Brian’s hand, feeling up along his arm, over his shoulder.  He trailed down over his chest, his abs, settling on his hips.  He found everything about Brian felt real- skin covering muscle over a familiar skeletal structure.

"My bones as you call them are all high-grade titanium alloy, lightweight yet strong," Brian explained.  His fingertips trailed down Dom's neck to his collarbone.  "Everything was structured to mimic a human frame so it would look and feel correct.  Rather than ligaments, there is my wiring."  Brian flexed his fingers.  "The muscle and skin are all synthetic."

Dom's fingers had unconsciously slipped underneath Brian's tee-shirt.  As he felt the skin there he couldn't help but comment, "You're so warm.  And everything feels... human."

Brian grinned.  "The result of excellent engineering."  He chuckled and shed away as Dom's fingers brushed across his bottom ribs.  "Ticklish," he explained, which made Dom smile in return.  They'd even given Brian human-like nerve endings it seemed.

Something about Brian was undoubtedly charming.  Dom wasn't afraid to admit that.  He had no idea where any of this was going but it seemed worth it to find out.  He hooked a hand behind Brian's neck, tugging him down into another gentle kiss.

He had completely forgotten Carter was also in the room until he felt a hand on his shoulder.  Carter smiled down at him, something sly and predatory.  "Well don't you two make a pretty pair," he all but purred out.  He placed his lips near Dom’s ear to add, “You know, Brian’s very anatomically correct in other ways too.”

A blush colored Brian’s face as Dom’s brows rose.  Seeing the reaction though, Dom ended up smirking.  “So you _can_ blush,” he teased.

Brian seemed to catch himself then, eyes lowering into a hooded gaze.  “I can do more than blush,” he informed, voice a honeyed tone.

“What do you say?” Carter asked, lips brushing over the shell of Dom’s ear.

Dom craned his neck around, slamming his mouth against Carter’s in a demanding kiss.  The brunette returned the intensity, pushing into Dom’s space.  It was clear where Brian’s brazenness came from as Carter certainly went after whatever he wanted.

Lips were on Dom’s neck, followed by a scrape of teeth, testing.  Never breaking from Carter, Dom tilted his head to offer up more of his neck in approval.  Brian picked that up, biting gently at the juncture of neck and shoulder, moving up to repeat until he nipped at Dom’s jawbone.

As Carter’s tongue curled with his, all Dom could think was that he may have gotten in over his head with these two.

* * *

Brian was lying on his stomach, the sheet pulled up to his lower back.  Carter was snuggled against his side, pressing kisses to his bare shoulder.  “You’re so beautiful Corazon,” he murmured.

“I’ll agree to that,” Dom commented at Brian’s other side, lying on his back.  He leaned over and kissed Brian on the lips before adding, “The both of you.”  He smirked, kissing Carter as well before flopping back down.  They were all happily sated from their earlier activities, ready to fall asleep at any time.

They had been seeing each other for roughly a week, ever since that afternoon in the office.  Dom had been put onto other cases but was still working on Laning’s death when he had the time.  Carter had successfully launched the NS-5 line, preparing for a second massive shipment soon.  Brian had spent his days with Jesse, who continued on Laning’s work, and most of his nights with his boyfriends at Carter’s home- and in his bed.

They were all lying there off in their own thoughts when Brian chuckled.  “I’m rather certain this is not how normal human relationships work.”  He pushed himself up onto his forearms and elbows, looking between them.  “Aren’t those only two people?”

Dom smirked.  “Yeah, well, I think it’ll take _two_ people to handle you Buster.”

Brian shook his head at the nickname Dom had saddled him with, already finding it… endearing was the word that came to mind.

Carter snarked right back as he nuzzled Brian’s cheek.  “I think it’s _Dom_ that will need the both of us.”

The blonde grinned over at Carter as he replied, “Well he is the bigger trouble-maker.”

Dom scoffed, feigning insult.  “I see how it is,” he commented, pretending to get up.

However Brian must have taken it seriously as he panicked and grabbed for Dom.  “No, don’t go!  We were only joking!”

Dom couldn’t help but laugh lightly, shaking his head.  “I was being sarcastic.”

Lowering his brows, Brian asked in obvious confusion, “Sarcastic?”

“Yeah, it’s a kind of joking.”

After a short pause, Brian concluded, “I think I need another software update.”

Carter could only chuckle, leaning over and kissing Brian’s temple.  “Come on Corazon.  Time for bed.”

He tugged Brian down to lay beside him, not missing the smile on the blonde’s face as Dom curled up behind him.  Carter pressed another kiss to Brian’s lips and murmured, “I love you Bri.”

Brian felt something in him swell, the same feeling he had when Carter kissed him, when Dom kissed him for that matter.  He figured he understood how important those words were meant to be, smiling as he kissed him back before snuggling back up with them to get some sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Gasping, Brian shot up in bed.  His sudden movement startled his bed partners, both of them sitting up as Carter told the lights to come on at half power.  “What’s wrong?” Dom asked, grasping his forearm.

“Corazon?” Carter inquired at the same time, hand on his back.

“I had a nightmare,” Brian replied, trying to shake it off.  Carter murmured against his shoulder, fingers combing soothingly through blonde curls.

“You dream?” Dom couldn’t help but ask.

“Sometimes.  I’ve never had a nightmare before though.”  His frown was deep.

“What was it?”

Rather than give a direct answer, Brian instead looked at Carter.  “I think I know what’s going on.”  To Carter’s questioning gaze he explained, “The haptic feedback was from USR’s internal systems.  Someone hacked into Viki’s mainframe and tried to hack me next.”

“That’s impossible.”

“Remote hacking, yes.  But in theory if I were plugged into USR someone could potentially use Viki’s protocols to override my programming.”  He chewed on his lip a moment.  “Of course if they were able to take over Viki…  Maybe Dr. Laning’s safeguards…”

“You’re fine Brian,” Carter assured.  “No one is going to hack you.”

“But you don’t know that!” Brian argued.  “Someone has already hacked Viki and no one can find any proof of it!  If they’re that good then they-”

“We won’t let that happen.”

“Dunno ‘bout any of this,” Dom added, “but I bet Jess could help if he knew.”

Carter nodded.  “Tomorrow we’ll go back to USR and have him see what he can find.”  He pet Brian’s hair some more, quirking his lips a bit.  “In the meantime, get some rest.”

“Don’t think I can go to sleep after that.”  The horrible images of himself as a slave to someone else flashed before his eyes again- quite literally in fact- and he gave a full body shiver.

Carter kissed his forehead and suggested, “I’ll get you a glass of milk.”  Brian smiled at him in thanks. He may not have required nourishment to survive but he was perfectly capable of eating and drinking. Laning had wanted him to be as human as possible in every way, and apparently he had developed an affinity for a few things.

As Carter got out of bed, Dom did the same, citing that he needed to use the bathroom.  Rather than using the master bath, Brian watched as he trailed after Carter to use the one downstairs. Brian shrugged it off though, figuring perhaps Dom wanted a drink as well.

“If someone hacked Brian…” Dom prompted, trailing behind Carter down the spiral staircase.

“A disaster wouldn’t even begin to cover it.  Brian can choose to ignore the Three Laws.  That means he could be forced into doing anything.”  Carter frowned, pausing at the bottom of the staircase, holding onto the railing.  Dom passed by him, turning to meet his gaze.  “I can’t lose him.”

Dom reached out, grasping his wrist.  “We’ll figure this out,” he assured.  He gave Carter a little tug into his arms, pressing their lips together.  “We’ll protect him.”

Carter gave him a sad half-smile.  “We can’t protect him from something we can’t physically fight.”

Despite knowing that was true, Dom wouldn’t allow Carter to fall into doubt.  “He’s got us fighting for him.  We’ll keep him safe.”

At that Carter’s expression turned a bit more calm.  “Yeah.”

They only hoped the experts at USR would have the answers they needed.

* * *

“Absolutely not!” Carter yelled, startling both Mia and Jesse in the process.  Normally he would try to check his temper with his top scientists but this wasn’t one of those times.

“But Carter-”

“I won’t even consider doing something so reckless!” he interrupted Brian.  The blonde frowned and Carter immediately sighed, backing off a bit.  “I didn’t mean to yell at you.”

“I understand,” was his reply.  “I really do.  But this might be the only logical choice we have.”

“The _logical choice_ doesn’t involve using you as _bait_.”

“I don’t see how we’ll find the hackers any other way.”

Jesse had been searching all morning for hints within Brian’s programs and found nothing.  When that bled into an afternoon of looking at Viki’s systems and also coming up empty, Brian suggested plugging himself into the USR database to draw them out.  Clearly Carter hadn’t taken it well.

“It’s too dangerous,” Carter reasoned.

“Not to speak out of turn,” Mia interjected, “but I believe you both have valid points.  The implications…”  She huffed out a breath.  “The implications of a robot unbound by the Three Laws being used for whatever nefarious purpose these hackers have in mind…  But that’s also why we should do everything in our power to find those responsible.”

Carter grumbled and Jesse threw in, “I think I could make a safeguard to protect Brian when they try for it.  All I would need is a short window in order to trace their origins and, with luck, who they are.”

The CEO hesitated but with all of them working against him- and making valid points- he couldn’t hope to win against them.  “I want Dom here if we’re doing this.  That partner of his too.  And the station on stand-by.”

“I’ll go call him,” Mia offered.

Jesse had been the only other person outside Dr. Laning to know about Carter and Brian’s relationship, however both he and Mia were equally surprised when Dom had come in with the pair that morning.  Mia gaped at them when Dom had kissed Brian goodbye before turning and offering one to Carter as well. Dom didn’t even give his sister and friend any sort of explanation, just said his farewells and went off to work.

“You’re hoping the hackers will show up in a physical sense,” Brian guessed.

“It might happen,” Carter replied.  “And if it does I want to make sure you’re protected.”  He pulled Brian to him.  “Unfortunately the more we talk about this the more it seems like someone on the inside.”  He brushed a stray curl from beside Brian’s eye.

“We’ll catch them,” Brian replied confidently.

That caused Carter to smile a bit.  “Shouldn’t it be _my_ job to reassure _you_?”

Brian shrugged but his smile was teasing.  “I could always pretend if you like.”

Carter laughed, feeling some of the tension easing out of him as he held Brian close.

* * *

The lab was being set up when Dom and Vince arrived.  “Are you seriously letting this happen?” Dom scowled at Carter.

The brunette sighed, pointing to Brian.  “Tell that to him.”

Brian’s face lit up with relief when he saw Dom, moving across the room to greet him with a hug.  “I’m glad you’re here.”

That melted Dom’s earlier resolve, pulling the blonde further into his arms.  “Of course I’d be here,” he assured softly.

Vince cleared his throat behind them, glowering at Brian when Dom stepped aside to look at him.  “Didn’t know you two were so friendly,” he mentioned to his best friend.

“You must be Detective Hunter,” Brian said, completely oblivious to the mounting tension.

“I don’t talk to tin cans,” he bit back.

“ _Vince_ ,” Dom hissed at the same time Carter was reminding, “I don’t have to lift the restraining order you know.”

Brian frowned, putting his hand on Dom’s arm to calm him.  “It’s alright Dom.  I understand.”  Dom lowered his brows.  “When I heard you were coming I looked up your file,” he informed Vince.  “I’m sorry about what happened to your friend.”

“He wasn’t just a _friend!_ ” Vince snapped.

“I realize that.”  Brian looked down to where he was working his hands together in an anxious manner.  “I'm unfamiliar with the proper term to use however.”

“Fiance,” Dom supplied, hand brushing over Brian’s shoulders.  Brian tried the word out on his tongue, nodding his head as he committed it to memory.

There was no missing the perplexed expression on Vince's face.  Dom knew the look well- Vince had conflicting feelings and he was attempting to figure out what to settle on.  In the end Vince sighed heavily, shaking his head and looking away.  “Do what you want Dom,” he muttered.  “I won’t stop you.”

It wasn’t a blessing however it was as close as they were bound to get for the time being.  Rather than acknowledge it and make things awkward, Dom moved the topic along.  “I think I figured out what happened with Laning.”

Everyone was all ears as Dom laid out his theory- even Jesse stopped the furious movement of his fingers to listen.  “These hackers were obviously watching Laning, here and at home.  They were trying to get all the information on Brian they could.  Except Laning caught wise.  Hell, they may have even tried blackmailing him in some way.”

“Seems likely given what we’ve learned since,” Carter conceded.  “But why have Brian kill him?”  He noticed the blonde flinch and wrapped his arm around his shoulders to pull him in, kissing his temple and murmuring, “It’s okay.”

“If they’ve had control of Viki maybe he felt there was nothing he could do.”  Dom sighed, shaking his head.  “He called me.  He knew that I would push things, hoped I’d get his clues.”  He looked to Vince then.  “I think he was counting on our own prejudices to lead us down this path.”  That time he looked to Brian.  “It was the only way he had left to get these bastards caught.  He couldn’t let you fall into their hands.”

“Or the tech inside him,” Jesse agreed.  “If they were able to unlock the secrets of making _more_ robots like Brian…?”  He didn’t need to tell them how disastrous that would be.

“Then this is the only way,” Brian concluded.  “Plug me in and lets drawn them out.”

“We wait until everyone else goes home,” Carter replied.  There would be a skeleton crew of security staff but having the bulk of the employees out of the building was probably for the best.

Brian nodded in agreement.  He gave Carter a halfhearted smile but his lover saw right through it.  Rather than offer up any words, Carter pulled him into a gentle hug, reassuring with touch instead.  Brian nuzzled his nose into the curve of Carter’s neck at the same time Dom stepped up to them, wrapping his arms around them both.

Whatever happened, they would both be there.  In that Brian managed to find some peace.


	5. Chapter 5

Brian was strapped into the diagnostic chair, Mia and Jesse flitting around, minds set to the task at hand.  Vince stood out of the way observing, fingers running along the butt of his gun in his shoulder holster out of nervous habit.  Meanwhile Carter held onto Brian’s hand as the chair tilted back and rose to about waist height, Dom standing behind him with a hand on Carter’s hip.

“You’ll be fine Corazon,” Carter assured, “and we’ll be right here.”

“Sweet dreams,” Dom added with a little upturn to his lips.

Brian returned a brief smile of his own before looking seriously at them.  “Just in case something happens-”

“Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“If it _does_ ,” Brian forged ahead.  “I need you to know something.”  He met blue-grey eyes first.  “I love you Carter.”

Carter’s warm smile said all.  “And I love you Corazon.”  He leaned down, kissing him softly.

Brian looked past Carter to where Dom stood and quirked his lips a moment.  “I know it hasn’t been long between us…”

“Don’t say it if it doesn’t feel right,” Dom offered.  “Even if you think you should.”

Brian’s smile grew then.  “But I do feel it.  Love you Dom.”

Dom couldn’t help the smile on his face, coming forward to give Brian a kiss as well.  Against his lips he breathed, “I love you.”

Lips were next to Dom’s ear and he could hear the grin in Carter’s voice.  “The same goes for me Carino.”

Dom let out a huff of a laugh, shaking his head as he agreed.  “No need to sweet talk me baby,” he purred out.  “Love you too.”

“If you three are done,” Vince spoke up in exasperation.

Dom and Carter both stole one last kiss before back away and allowing the science team to do their thing.

The chair finished tilting, straightening into a bed in the process.  Laid out flat, Brian let his head rest back, eyes closing as he took a deep breath and tried to relax.  Jesse gave him a warning before initializing the program.

In that moment, part of Brian’s consciousness melded with the USR’s computer system, with Viki herself.  It was a strange sensation, being there but not, and he was grateful to know that both Carter and Dom were watching over him.  It allowed him to keep calm, to let it all happen naturally.

As Mia was running routine diagnostics, Jesse kept a close eye on the monitors.  Vince tilted his head, watching everything like a hawk.  He was the one to point out, “If these guys are so smart, don’t ya think they’d know this was a trap?”

“They could,” Jesse admitted, “but it’s not an opportunity they could pass up.  Because of Brian’s programming he doesn’t really need to be plugged into the USR mainframe. Let alone on a regular basis.”

“It also isn’t unusual for this to be done after hours when it _is_ done,” Carter said.

“Right,” Vince gruffed, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the wall, “the _secret project_.”  Dom gave him a reproachful look and Vince flashed his palms in a show of surrender.

“Anything Jess?” Dom inquired, watching the foreign information stream across the screen, however the young genius just shook his head.

“Everything looks completely normal,” Mia confirmed.  “Well,” she added with a twist of her lips, “what’s normal for _him_.”

Carter stepped up and ran his fingers through Brian’s hair, his eyes twitching beneath his eyelids.  Dom couldn’t help the softening of his features at the sight.  Everything about Carter relaxed around Brian, the rough edges the man had smoothing away.  It was times like these when watching them together that he wondered how in the world they could ever want _him_.  The brunette looked up at him, offering a brief half smile before looking down at Brian once more.

All they could do was watch and wait. Except outside of a short spike in brain function and a weird blip in the system, nothing at all seemed to happen.

Brian’s eyes opened slowly as though waking from sleep when the exam chair sat back up.  “What happened?” he asked.

Dom just shook his head.  “Looks like we’ll have to try again some other day.”

Frowning, Brian apologized to them all.  “I guess this was a bad idea.”  He looked over at Mia and Jesse, “I’m sorry for keeping you both so late.  You should go home and get some sleep.”

Mia gave him a tired smile.  “Don’t worry about it Brian.  I’m happy to help.”  She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  “For what it’s worth, I think you’re very brave.”  Brian blushed, ducking his head away.

“See ya tomorrow man,” Jesse said.

“It was good to meet you Detective,” Brian offered Vince as Dom helped steady him getting up from the chair.  He didn’t need the assistance but he humored Dom all the same.

Vince gave the robot a considering look before nodding.  “Yeah.  You too.”  Brian’s smile was the stupidly happy one that made Dom and Carter both melt- apparently it also worked on Vince if the man’s grumbling was anything to go by.  “Come on,” he told Jesse and Mia, “I’ll walk you guys out.”

“Probably smart,” Dom answered.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

Once they were gone, Carter finally spoke up.  “You’re so full of shit.”  Both his lovers turned to find him with his eyes narrowed on Brian.  “What happened?”  Given how much longer Carter had known him, Dom was willing to go with the other man’s instincts and looked to Brian in question.

“Nothing,” Brian stalled.

He wandered around the lab, pretending to look at various equipment.  His eyes locked onto the nanites behind its containment field. They were small microbots designed to wipe out a robot’s positronic brain.  He moved onto other things but neither of them had missed the small queue.

What exactly Brian was trying to tell them they weren’t sure. “Did you want to go home?” Carter offered.

“Staying here might be better,” Brian replied.  He was playing it completely cool but even Dom noticed the slight change in his voice, in his stance.

“Would you like us to stay the night?” Dom inquired, attempting as Carter was to unlock whatever message they were supposed to get.

Brian paused, looking at his feet.  “I’m… unsure.”  He looked up at them, clearly conflicted.  After a moment he looked towards the computer monitors and asked, “Do you suppose the others have already left?”

It clicked for Dom then.  Brian wanted the others out of the way.  Something was going to happen and he hadn’t wanted them there, likewise uncertain whether it was safe for he and Carter to be there either.  “I’m sure Carter and I can help you with whatever you needed.”  Brian’s eyes met his and the blonde’s lips twitched up a moment in silent thanks.

As Carter looked between them he picked up the hint.  For him the piece that fell into place was the nanites.  There was a reason Brian was speaking in riddles.  A certain USR program could hear them anywhere they went in the building.  If Viki was indeed compromised then the hackers could very well be listening in, and clearly Brian believed that to be the case at the moment.  Brian didn’t want them to know he planned to kill Viki.

Nanites killed a robot’s brain and Viki’s core was nothing _but_ a giant positronic brain.  Whatever had happened when Brian was hooked up made him believe it was the right thing and so Carter wouldn’t doubt him.  If it meant protecting his lover then that was exactly what he would do.

Carter walked over to the nanite containment, punching in his code to open the safety field around it.  “An early night would be good,” he ventured casually.  “Maybe a movie in the office.”  He grabbed a vial to fill with nanites.  “I’m sure Viki could stream whatever you want.”

Dom got the hint then as well, nodding his head.  “Yeah.  Sounds good to me.”

They all had an understanding.  Now it would just take getting it completed.

That was easier said than done the moment the containment field went back up, nearly taking off Carter’s hand as he was getting ready to hook the vial up inside.  “Fuck!”

“We’ve been found out,” Dom noted, the same time Brian was moving to take the vial from Carter.

“What are you doing?!” Carter demanded but Brian was already sticking his left arm through the field, hooking the vial up to the dispenser and pulling it back out.

He flexed his hand, twisting his arm as he looked at it.  “Brian…”  Carter grabbed his elbow, taking a look at the damage done, Dom coming up right next to them.  The skin on his forearm was charred away, exposing the twisting cables and metal underneath.

Brian’s lips quirked up as he looked between them.  “It pays to be made of high-grade titanium alloy.”

Dom shook his head in amusement.  “You’re something else Bri.”

The vial filled completely- more than enough for any normal robotic brain but necessary for one the size of Viki’s.  Brian reached back through the field, wincing a little at the burn that time with everything exposed.  “We need to hurry.”

Naturally it wasn’t going to be that easy, as when the containment field went up, the security doors to the lab activated as well, effectively trapping them inside.  “Hold this,” Brian said, passing the nanites to Dom.  Then as casual as could be, he walked up to the solid steel door and wrenched it open.  He then pressed his body between them, pushing them far enough apart for them to fit through.  “Lets go.”

Carter chuckled, a crooked grin on his face.  “You are amazing Bri,” he mentioned, squeezing out of the lab.

“So I’ve been told,” was the cheeky answer while Dom worked to follow them.

“Tight enough?” Dom groused, having to work a little harder than his two smaller-framed lovers. Brian murmured an apology, pressing a kiss to Dom’s cheek as he took the vial of nanites back.  “Where do we need to go?” he asked as they started jogging down the hall.

“Viki’s core access.”  He looked back at Dom apologetically as he added, “Ten floors up.”

Dom understandably groaned.  “And using the elevators are obviously out.”

They had made it almost to the needed floor when Carter stalled out, huffing and puffing as he pushed himself to keep going.  “I’ve got you,” Dom assured, slipping an arm around him and draping Carter’s arm over his shoulders.

“Go,” Carter encouraged Brian.  “Don’t wait for us.”

Brian hesitated but knowing Carter was in good hands and their time was limited, he picked up his pace and sprinted up the last of the stairs.

When the pair stumbled through the door, they were confused at first as to why they found Brian standing on the landing.  But then they saw the other people standing there in wait.  Brian was surrounded, and now they were too.

“What the hell is this?” Carter hissed, pushing away from Dom to stand on his own feet.

“Brian,” Dom spoke in warning, however the robot didn’t move.

The two men standing in their path were smirking, while there were armed pairs on either side.  “Just in time,” one of the men blocking them spoke.  “Why don’t you join us?”

“Wait…  I know you.”  Carter swore he recognized the pair, but from where he couldn’t quite put a finger on.

It was Brian who answered him.  “Deckard and Owen Shaw.  Owen works in the Technology Support Department.  Deckard is in the Security Department.”  Brian wouldn’t look at him, instead focusing on the brothers.  “They are the ones that found out about me.  Stalked Dr. Laning.”

Dom glared at them, coming protectively to Brian’s other side.  These were the men attempting to steal Brian, to take control of him for their own.  No doubt there was a nefarious purpose behind it.  Because of his advanced programming and ability to ignore the Three Laws they could turn Brian into a killing machine or use him in any number of illegal schemes.

That time it was Owen who spoke.  “Alright robot.  Time to heel.”

Brian winced, holding his head.  “Bri…”  Dom grabbed his shoulders but was shrugged off roughly.  Then just as suddenly, Brian straightened, his eyes looking glazed over as he looked straight at Owen.

“Good boy,” Owen purred, chuckling.

Deckard’s grin was dark as he ordered Brian, “Kill.”

Brian moved with the lightning speed of a robot, grabbing Carter.  He spun the brunette around, pulling Carter's back against his chest and wrapping his arm around his neck.  Carter’s protest was cut off as he lost the ability to breathe, clawing at Brian’s forearm.

Dom’s eyes widened, pleading, “Brian, don’t do this.”  Their eyes met and Dom watched as Brian gave him a wink.  Relief filled him and Dom gave a small nod.

As one they acted.  Dom drew his gun and Brian dropped Carter who collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees. Dom took down one of the Shaw’s henchmen before anyone could react, managing to shoot the one next to him just as sights were trained on him.  Meanwhile, Brian took out the other two, legs wrapping around one’s neck and snapping it as he was flipped over.  The other was taken out at the legs before Brian’s arm came down on the man’s windpipe, crushing it.

Dom leveled his gun on the Shaw’s, the barrel traveling carefully between the two.  Brian was crouched on the ground, taking in every bit of data on the situation within seconds.

“Damnit Owen!” Deckard hissed.  “You said it worked!”

“It did!”

Brian answered with a smirk, “Too bad for you that I can also act, along with having free will.”

Brian lunged at the same time Deckard drew a gun hidden at his lower back.  He didn’t have a chance to fire however as Dom let off a couple shots.  The first nailed Deckard in his right shoulder, the next going into his neck.

Brian never even blinked, having known the older Shaw had a weapon and counting on Dom to react in time.  Instead he had targeted Owen, tackling him to the floor.  They rolled a couple times before Brian kicked out, sending Owen flying through the glass railing and straight down forty stories.

“Carter.”  Dom took a knee next to him, the brunette coughing as he held his throat.  “You alright?”  Carter nodded, looking at Brian as he came over as well.

“I’m so sorry,” Brian apologized, cupping Carter’s cheek.  “I tried not to squeeze too hard.”

Carter forced a brief upturn of his lips to assure Brian as he said, “It’s alright.  You did what you had to.”  His voice was a little rough but there didn’t seem to be any real damage done.

Dom pressed a kiss to Carter’s temple before they both helped him to stand.  “Guess that explains where all the NS-5 Security went,” Brian mentioned.  “They must have never been alerted.”

“Also explains how someone could slip a virus into Viki,” Dom added.  Between their two job descriptions, the Shaw’s would have known everything they needed to do to turn the building’s operating core against them.

“There’s no chance of saving Viki, is there?” Carter checked, clearly already assuming the answer.

“No,” Brian regretfully explained.  “The virus the Shaw’s used has damaged her system beyond repair.  There’s only one way left to get USR back online.”  He walked over, pulling the vial of nanites from Deckard’s front pocket, having ordered Brian to hand it over before his lovers arrived.

He looked back at them, planning to say they could wait there but clearly neither of them were having it as they headed to the walkway that led to the core access.  Carter strode easily across the span, not even noticing the height.  Dom however balked, grabbing hold of the railing on either side of him as he realized they were completely suspended above the lobby.

“Dom?”  Brian was behind him, looking at him in concern.

“I don’t do well with heights.”

Brian gave him a crooked grin.  “I’ve got you,” he assured, being certain to walk just behind him as Dom slowly made his way across.

Carter inputted his override code and had the access hatch opened by the time they got there.  However once again Viki inhibited their progress by closing it right back up.  “Damnit,” Carter hissed, trying to punch in more codes.

“Here.”  Brian handed him the nanites, taking over.  Each thing he tried came back with an error and he frowned.  “I don’t understand.  Why won’t-”

The pair jumped as Dom punched the hatch with great force using his robotic arm.  The metal bent and the mechanism sparked as it slid open once more.  Dom looked at them, speaking through clenched teeth.  “I’m uncomfortable… with heights.”

“Noted.”

Carter offered Dom his hand, pulling the larger man close in what was an attempt at comfort.  The way the Detective’s body was strung so tight however it clearly wasn’t doing anything.

Brian took the nanites and slid the prongs into the slot.  Pushing the plunger injected the gel housing the tiny robots.  Almost immediately they ate away at the positronic core, the lines turning from their brilliant blue into a dead black.

The rest of the building was soon to follow it into death, all the lights of the building shutting down, the emergency lighting kicking on from the backup generators after a moment’s delay.  “Is it over?” Dom managed to ask, not letting up his vice-like grip on Carter’s wrist.

“Yeah.”  Brian breathed a sigh of relief.  “It is.”  He took Dom’s other hand, encouraging him to follow back across the narrow bridge to more solid ground, Carter being drug along.

“I guess having all the NS-5’s connected to USR was a bad idea,” Carter mentioned.  If the Shaw’s had been able to take control of Viki, how long would it have taken to hack into all the NS-5’s in turn?

“They wouldn’t have been able to control the robots,” Brian assured as though reading his mind.  “Unless they found a way to override the Three Laws, which would have been impossible without a secondary core like I have.”  Ironically enough, the smaller positronic core was placed where a human’s heart would be.  It was what gave him the ability of full free will, not required to obey the Three Laws he was otherwise programmed with.

It was Dom who gave them a surprising bit of information.  “Laning was worried that Viki could be manipulated. That she was evolving. And if anyone could change her interpretation of the Three Laws…”

“Then that could have changed the NS-5’s as well,” Carter realized.  “That’s what Dr. Laning was so concerned about.”

Brian’s brows lowered as he looked at Dom.  “How do you know that?”

Ignoring the question, Dom groused about needing to sit down, putting himself all the way to the wall by the stairwell entrance and sliding down it.  He gave a grateful sigh, waiting until Carter and then Brian joined him before commenting, “Wonder how long it’ll take for the cavalry to arrive.”

“Loss of power would have triggered an alarm at the station,” Carter confirmed.  “And with the disruption to Viki’s core no longer an issue, the security bots should be online again and starting their search of the building.”

Normally Brian would have been able to verify any of that using Viki’s system to reach out and gain a status update. However with Viki dead he was in the dark as much as his lover’s were.

Instead he went back to the topic Dom had attempted to sidestep.  “How do you know about Viki?”  Dom pulled his legs up, resting his forearms on his knees and not looking at them.  “You found out why Dr. Laning…”  He swallowed the lump in his throat.  “Why he asked me…”

“I did,” Dom admitted softly.

“So he was worried about Viki and Brian both?” Carter surmised.  “If he was being watched, threatened then-”

“It wasn’t that.”  Dom sighed.  “We managed to copy encrypted files from Laning’s home computer before that demo bot tore through the place.  It finally got cracked and Vince went through it and…”  Another sigh, heavier that time.  “Laning was depressed.”

“But…”  Brian shook his head, features pinched.  “That’s not true.  He was fine.  Maybe a little stressed with the NS-5 launch coming up, but he was fine.”

“No Bri,” Dom replied gently, running a hand along his forearm.  “It was all there.  He’d been battling depression and anxiety for months.  He was just very good at hiding it.”

Brian’s frown deepened.  “He…  He wanted to die?”

Dom hated to admit it but Brian deserved the truth.  “In that moment… he did.”

The silence stretched on for awhile, Brian looking contemplative.  His hands clenched into fists before he forced them to stretch out.  “Is that why…?”  His voice broke.  “Is that why he made me?”  There were tears welling in his eyes when he looked back at Dom.

It was Carter though that spoke first.  “Don’t you dare say that.”  He grabbed Brian’s face and forced him to look at him.  “You were never a means to an end.  You were built out of love.  For the pursuit of something greater.”

“His depression was a recent development,” Dom confirmed.  “There was no way he had planned for any of this.”

It was a little comfort to Brian to know that at least he hadn’t been designed with the purpose of killing his creator in mind.  Still, it begged the question, “Do you suppose Laning knew about the Shaw’s or Viki then?”

“It’s possible.  But I dunno that we’ll ever know for sure.”

A thoughtful silence settled between them again before Brian asked, “What _was_ my purpose then?  Why was I made?”

Carter’s smile was fond.  “To exist.”  He brushed fingers through blonde curls.  “To have the free will to do whatever you wanted.  To love and be loved.”

Dom grinned too, moving closer to Brian.  “Gotta find yer way just like everyone else now.”  He pressed his forehead to the side of Brian’s head as he assured, “And we’ll be there every step of the way.”

Brian managed to smile, snuggling into Dom’s side.  “As long as I have the both of you, I think I’ll be just fine.”

“Not going anywhere Corazon,” Carter murmured, kissing his cheek.

Dom settled his back against the wall, pulling the blonde to him.  As Brian rested his head back on Dom’s shoulder, Dom reached out and snagged Carter’s bicep to tug him in as well.  Pressed up against Brian’s other side, Carter tucked himself behind him a bit while Dom’s arm rested around his shoulders.

The security bots would find them soon and rescue was bound to arrive not far behind.  However for the time being they were content to hold each other in the darkness, the silence of the normally active building wrapping around them like a blanket.  Who was to say what would come their way next?  What was certain was they would always have each other.

/End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed taking this crazy ride with me.
> 
> Follow me on [Tumblr](http://thedenofcaseywolfe.tumblr.com/).


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